Vacation's All I Ever Wanted
by Gildan
Summary: When Krycek is suddenly on the run again, he ends up finding Mulder at a diner. Mulder reluctantly agrees to let Krycek hitch a ride with him, as he's heading to Nevada on a "personal mission". As they cross the states and stop at alien-themed tourist traps, Krycek grows suspicious of Mulder's "mission". One-sided Krycek/Mulder. Fluff, Angst, Humor.
1. Chapter 1

_Gildan's Note: The first chapter of my X-Files fic! Warning, the updates may be slow, but there'll be no abandoning. I don't expect this story to be too long, as there are more Krycek ideas I'd like to do. This goes out to anyone who has ever read a great fic and realized it was from five years ago and was never finished. _

**Chapter One: Let's Get Out of Here**

Krycek closed his eyes; the soothing, deep voice of the musician entered his ears through the headphones he had just spent the last five minutes untangling. It was two in the morning, and he was all alone on the train, somewhere in Virginia. As she sang about death, Krycek couldn't help but relate to her melancholy. He really was always born to die. Him and the others who were being jerked around by the men behind the Syndicate. And it was then he realized that although he was the train's only passenger, he never ever was truly alone.

He opened his eyes and looked around; a man had seated himself not ten feet from Krycek. He paused his music and felt angry, always, _always_ they found him. He wondered when the man had gotten on, if he had been on the train before Krycek boarded, or had stalked him all the way _to _the train. But it didn't really matter.

He was always thinking fast, even when he was getting up as slow as he was. As soon as he had gotten out of his seat the man also rose. Krycek gave him a warning glance, but the man did not heed it. Instead, the stranger lunged at Krycek.

Krycek screamed, he always did and he hated that. Why couldn't he take a punch without crying out? Fighting back was a struggle, but he managed to kick his attacker in the face, leaving the man immobile for enough time to escape. He opened the emergency door and jumped out, unaware in the dark that it had snowed. Being met with a cushioned fall was a blessing, but now there was snow in his jacket and boots.

As he got up he allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark. Well, no more music.

Walking into the nearest town, he wondered when he'd eventually stop running, when they'd finally write him off of their twisted story. His stomach growled, and he realized that he hadn't eaten in a while. He looked into the windows of a diner, and his heart stopped. The identity of the man sitting with his back to Krycek was unmistakable.

How?

How was this possible? How did he, Krycek, end up on that train at that specific time, only to be attacked by that man at that specific time, and then escape, and then jump, and then end up at this town at this exact time, and then go to this diner – right at the exact time Fox Mulder was at this diner? He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But Mulder was the only chance he had at being safe, so he walked in.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, too hurt and tired to care that Mulder was probably .00 seconds away from slamming his head into the table.

Mulder looked up, giving Krycek the sudden notion that he was_ not_ too hurt or tired to care.

"Please don't flip out or punch me." He said quickly.

"What the hell are you doing here, Krycek?" the words were like venom. Mulder didn't get up, but resumed drinking his coffee.

"I'm not doing anything here, I was on a train, attacked, and I jumped off. This is where I ended up." Krycek shot back.

"Well if only you had ended up in a ditch instead of a diner." Said Mulder nonchalantly, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Is your whole life about one-liners?"

"Don't forget the aliens."

Krycek let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you think I'm going to be nice to you? Because you had to jump off a train? Been there done that." Mulder turned to look at the newspaper that had been on the table. Krycek sat down in the booth seat opposite of Mulder.

"Mulder, I need your help. I need you to get me out of this town." Said Krycek.

Mulder let out a small laugh. "Why would I do that?"

"I think we've all been a little screwed over by the smoking man." Krycek said in an angry whisper.

Mulder didn't say anything at first, just looked at Krycek inquisitively.

"Doesn't make up for the fact that you've screwed me." Said Mulder eventually, he smirked, "Bad wording."

"Yeah." Scoffed Krycek, but he turned his head towards the window to avoid looking Mulder in the eyes.

A waitress came over and asked Krycek if he wanted anything, he looked over at Mulder.

"Uh I lost my wallet in the fall." He told him.

Mulder rolled his eyes, "Just get something you piece of –

Mulder stopped, looked at the waitress, and rephrased his sentence. "A piece of cake or something."

Looking quickly at the menu, Krycek said, "I'll have coffee and the full breakfast."

Mulder raised an eyebrow as the waitress left to give the order.

"I haven't eaten in days." Said Krycek quietly. "I'll pay you back, it's only five dollars."

Mulder leaned back into the vinyl booth, and studied his supposed enemy. "I'm heading west, to Nevada, but I'm not going to take you the entire way."

Krycek looked at Mulder, wanting to wonder why he was doing this, but was too tired to analyze, "Thank you."

When the food arrived, he tried not to inhale it all at once, but being on the run for so long without a solid meal made that difficult. He knew what he must look like to Mulder, a wet, skinny rat – no wonder why Mulder was allowing him to tag along, he knew he looked pitiful. When the food had been eaten and the bill had been paid, the two men walked out to Mulder's car.

"I'm staying in a motel down the road, there's a couch there, unless you want to sleep in the car. Or the trunk."

Krycek didn't say anything; after he had fixed his hunger his tiredness was now amplified, and responding to Mulder's snark wasn't easy when one was ready to pass out. He almost didn't care where he slept, so long as that it was somewhere he could sleep in peace. It was past three by now, and as they drove down the highway, the moon and the snow seemed to illuminate what would otherwise be a dark night.

The car had a rough time getting into the motel parking lot, but Mulder eventually got it over the snow and into a space. He turned off the car and looked at Krycek.

"I'm tired, so I'm sleeping in till my body wakes itself up naturally, is that okay with you?" he asked.

"Yeah." Said Krycek, internally grateful for Mulder's lackadaisical nature.

"Good."

The motel room was typical, one bed, and a chair (not a couch as Mulder had described), as well as a bathroom. Mulder didn't bother to turn on the light; he took off his shoes and jacket and got into the bed. Krycek stood awkwardly for a moment before doing the same, only he got into the chair. He tried to adjust his position on the chair for maximum comfort, but it was proving to be difficult, as was everything with one arm. His hand slipped down the side of the chair, triggering the recliner. He let out a startled cry.

Mulder shot up and looked over where Krycek was, now sprawled about the chair.

"Jesus Christ what happened?" said Mulder, "You trying to give me a heart attack?"

"I didn't – the chair –

Mulder got up. "Just take the bed."

"Are you sure?" asked Krycek, already trying to get out of the apparent death trap of a chair.

"Yeah I sleep on a couch every night anyway." Mulder muttered, watching Krycek maneuver off the recliner one handed. He had forgotten about that incident. Mulder hopped into the chair, he had to admit it was a lot more comfortable.

Krycek got into the bed; it was slightly warm from where Mulder had been just a moment ago. He tried to sleep, but although faint, the smell of Mulder's cologne had already imprinted itself upon the pillows. He thought about how he had gotten here, this series of events, and he suddenly wished they hadn't happened. He had spent the better half of the past few years trying to ignore the tiny thump in his heart and – no - he was a rat. He had to remind himself of that.


	2. Chapter 2

_Gildan's Note: I told you guys I would not be abandoning this story! I have just been very busy and admittedly distracted, but now I hope to continue writing this and finish it quicker. _

**Chapter Two: Area Fifty Done**

Krycek woke up to the sunlight fighting its way into the room through closed blinds. He looked around the room and yawned, falling back into the pillows. He hadn't slept in what felt like days, and he had no idea what time it was, but he felt well rested. He closed his eyes again, if Mulder wanted to wake up naturally, he wasn't going to complain.

He buried his face under the pillows, the cologne had worn off hours earlier, and now Krycek was just seeking an escape from the rising sun. He drifted off to sleep again, falling into a nightmare in which some supposed stranger began to suffocate him with his pillow.

"KRYCEK!" yelled Mulder, shaking him awake.

Krycek woke up with a start, breathing rapidly. "W-what?" He looked around confusedly, grabbing Mulder's wrist with his hand. His arm was shaking.

"Get off me." Mulder said. "You were freaking out – you having bad dreams, Krycek?"

Krycek let go of Mulder's wrist, coming back to reality. "Are there any other kind?"

"Well, get up and get dressed, we're heading out."

"What I don't have time to shower?" asked Krycek bitterly.

Mulder grabbed the room key. "No – we literally have five minutes to get out of here or else they're going to charge me for today."

Krycek rolled his eyes and got up. He grabbed his jacket and slipped his shoes on, following Mulder out of the room. He stood by the car as Mulder went to return the key and pay. The snow had iced up overnight, leaving the parking lot a danger zone.

"Okay let's go." Said Mulder, unlocking the car.

"Just be careful because the parking lot is-

"If you end this with car statistics I'm going to leave you here." Mulder said, getting into the driver's seat.

Krycek didn't say anything, and as he got in the car he found his mind was stuck on the fact that Mulder had referenced a brief conversation that happened years ago. Mulder put the car into reverse and pushed on the gas and they sped out of the parking lot and into the street at what felt like warp speed. They both screamed.

Krycek looked around the street, "HOLY SHIT. You're lucky no one was coming…You almost just killed us! I TOLD YOU –

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Mulder yelled back. "We're fine, okay?" But his breathing was heavy and he took a moment to get back into drive. Krycek didn't say anything, but closed his eyes and tried not to think about how Mulder almost just killed them both with his stubbornness.

They drove for a few hours and stopped at a rest stop in North Carolina.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Said Mulder. "Do you have to go?"

"Yeah." Krycek replied.

The two walked into the rest stop bathroom, it was hot and humid in North Carolina that day.

"How is it hot today when there was literally snow in Virginia yesterday?" asked Krycek.

"That's this spring for ya." Said Mulder.

By the time Krycek had left his stall, Mulder was gone from the bathroom. Panic swept through him at the sudden idea that he might have been ditched. He exited the bathroom at a quick pace, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mulder at a snack machine. He walked over.

"There you are." Said Mulder, giving the machine a punch. "I want my damn bugles."

"Here I'll just stick my arm up there for you."

Mulder looked at Krycek. "Really?"

Krycek raised an eyebrow.

"No I mean, we could totally put your fake arm up into this machine."

"We're not using my prosthetic to get you a bag of chips." Said Krycek, annoyed.

"They're not chips."

"NO."

Mulder crunched happily in the car, one hand on the wheel and one hand in the bag of bugles. Krycek stared angrily at Mulder.

"Do you want one?" asked Mulder, shoving a bugle into Krycek's face.

Krycek snatched it out of his hand. "Please focus on the road."

"Don't worry Alex, next time I'll buy a big bag in the rest stop convenient store." Said Mulder, smiling.

"I didn't know we were on a first name basis." Said Krycek.

"I'm just messing with you. Maybe you want me to buy something for you at the gift shop instead."

"Gift shop?"

"Yeah, our first stop is coming up."

Mulder took the next exit and they ended up on the back roads of North Carolina. Mulder opened the windows to let in the fresh air, and the sound of the dirt hitting the tires beneath them was clear as they slowed down. Mulder pulled into what looked like your average tourist trap, except it was, naturally, alien themed.

"What the hell is this?" asked Krycek as they parked.

"I'm on a personal mission, and this is my first stop. I'm going inside; feel free to stay in the car if you want. I'll crack the window and handcuff you to the steering wheel, like old times."

Krycek sighed and opened the car door. He gave Mulder an annoyed look and shut the door. Mulder gave a sly smile and walked up the steps into the roadside attraction. Krycek looked around for a sign, and found it. This place was called Area Fifty _Done_ with a subtitle that read "Because we're DONE with the lies." Krycek put his hand to his face and laughed. This was ridiculous.

The air was warm outside, and inside it wasn't much cooler. There was a small fan by what looked to be the store's owner, an old woman and a slightly younger man, presumably her son. They looked like one would imagine two "believers" would look, with the son looking as though he gave up on himself once he reached 40. Or maybe he was too busy with his work finding the truth. Krycek wondered if Mulder would ever end up like that, in a place like this. But that was thinking too positive. No, Mulder was more likely to end up dead somewhere. And so was he.

The shack was small but cluttered, and Krycek had a hard time finding Mulder until he smacked right into him as he rounded a corner.

"Woah! You're gonna make me drop my snow globe." Mulder laughed.

"Ow…sorry. What?"

"This." Said Mulder, holding up an alien themed snow globe.

"You're buying that?"

"Nah – I think I'm just gonna get these lil figures, Scully would want one."

"What does this have to do with your mission?"

"Oh that, I already got what I needed for that." Mulder brushed by him and went up the register, where he paid for the little aliens.

"Yeah man – like I was saying, just keep your eyes in the sky tonight." Said the male clerk, whose name appeared to be Dale.

"Thanks." Said Mulder, and he and Krycek left the store.

"Where are we going now?" asked Krycek, the sun was starting to set at this point.

"To a hill." Mulder got in the car.

"A hill?"

"Yeah. There's going to be some activity in the skies tonight."

"What kind of activity?" asked Krycek, buckling himself in.

"Activity of the extraterrestrial persuasion."

"We're going UFO hunting?"

"I'm going, what about you? Are you ready to leave yet?" asked Mulder, driving out of the small parking lot.

"No. Not yet."

"Then we're going UFO hunting."

When they had reached the hill's summit, Mulder parked the car. He got out and surveyed the landscape before them. It was dark by now, and the moon was bright.

"When are the aliens supposed to show up?" Krycek asked, sitting on the hood of the car.

"I'm not sure. Soon?" Mulder joined him.

They sat in silence for a while and observed the skies. Krycek thought about the events that had led him here. The train…how he was almost captured…he wondered if they were still coming after him. He closed his eyes, he was still tired. He wondered how long Mulder would let him tag along. Maybe until the mission becomes too important. He was curious as to what Mulder's mission even was, it must be top secret. The places they had been and were had certainly been strange.

Krycek felt himself drifting off to sleep, there was a slight cool breeze and he was warm enough in his jacket. Suddenly, Mulder cried out.

"LOOK!"

Krycek jumped up, startled. He looked ahead where Mulder was pointing. Up in the sky were a bunch of bright lights.

"Couldn't that just be a plane?" asked Krycek.

"No way." Said Mulder. "It's them."

"Okay, please don't say 'It's them', that sounds really cryptic."

"Well, it's THEM."

The lights were followed by a blaring noise. Krycek's stomach dropped. What if it was aliens? What if this was truly it? The lights seemed to be drawing closer.

"WE HAVE TO GO." Shouted Krycek above the noise.

"WHAT?" cried Mulder.

"WE NEED TO GO." Krycek repeated.

"NO." Mulder replied, keeping his focus on the nearing lights.

The lights and noise had become incredibly overbearing, and whatever was in the sky was now directly above their car. Krycek could barely see from the brightness, and he grabbed onto Mulder's arm out of a sudden fear of being lifted into the sky. The wind had picked up because of the descending ship, and it almost blew them off the car. Even Mulder grabbed onto Krycek.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Krycek screamed.

"I DON'T KNOW."

The noise had become too much, and there was a sudden pain in their heads. They both let out screams of agony. After what felt like too long and not long at all, it stopped. And whatever it was in the sky had vanished. They fell off the car, too stunned and freaked out to move.

Mulder lifted his arm to look at his watch. He breathed heavily, they had lost 9 minutes. He had been close. Why didn't they take him?

"Holy shit." Krycek breathed. "Oh my God. Was that for real?"

"Yes." Said Mulder, getting up.

"How did that guy know they would be here?"

"Sometimes they follow patterns. He knows their patterns around here."

"This is…oh God. My head hurts." Krycek winced in agony.

"Well, get up. We'll go get a hotel room. It's late anyway." Said Mulder, still checking out his watch. "We lost 9 minutes."

"What does that mean?" asked Krycek, getting into the car.

"It means this was for real." Mulder replied, starting the car and making a U-turn down the hill.

They drove almost in silence. The only sound came from both the rapid, terrified breathing of both men. Although Mulder was more thrilled then terrified. Krycek could hardly think straight, he had known that there were a lot of conspiracies that were true, but he never fully believed in the actual existence of aliens, and even back when he was infected with…whatever that was. He wondered if this is how Scully felt. So close to the truth yet unwilling to accept it the next time it shows up.

At the motel, Mulder was able to get them a room with double beds. The interior was a typical motel room, comfortable enough, but also a little sketchy. Mulder pulled off his shirt, a white tank underneath, and began to undo his belt.

"I guess you don't have any other clothes." He said, looking over at Krycek.

"No, I don't."

"Well here, you can borrow some of mine, but you're on your own for underwear."

"I'll be fine on that front, thanks." Said Krycek, taking off his shirt in one swift motion.

"You're pretty good at doing that one handed."

"I have to be, don't I?" replied Krycek bitterly.

"Don't act like you didn't get yourself in that situation." Said Mulder casually, taking off his pants and hopping into his bed. He turned off the light.

Krycek stood in the dark for a moment. "I know what happened." He said, and then walked to the bathroom. Inside, he checked in the mirror to see what Mulder could see, the place where his prosthetic met his shoulder. He tried not to think about that night. He gave a deep breath and took off his pants to go to bed. He was definitely going to need some new clothes, but he didn't know how he felt about borrowing Mulder's.

He walked out of the bathroom, turning off the light. The room had that blue tint a lot of motel rooms have, from the neon sign or store across the way. Lights traveled across the room as cars sped by; there was peacefulness to this. Krycek stood there for a moment, trying to remember life in this strange moment…how quickly it could all change.

He climbed into his bed, but found getting comfortable difficult. He tossed and turned, until he heard an annoying groan from five feet away.

"Krycek what are you _doing_." Mulder muttered.

"I can't get comfortable."

"_Again?_"

"Sorry I just don't sleep well."

"You're safe here."

Krycek didn't respond right away, but when he did, he asked, "Am I?"

"_Yes, for the love of God, yes, now go to sleep. _Nothing's going to happen to you in the middle of the night." Mulder said, burying his head under a pillow.

Krycek sighed, closed his eyes, and found it was easier to sleep. It was his second night with Mulder, and he imagined it would be his second best night of sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Gildan's Note: Wowww I'm sorry this is...months...late. I've been very inspired lately to continue this though, so here's hoping I keep this up! And don't worry, Chapter 4 is coming soon :')_

**Chapter Three: Close Call**

Krycek had been right, it was the second best night of sleep he had had in years. He didn't even hear Mulder get up and shower, he stayed peacefully in bed until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He opened his eyes to find a serious-faced Mulder looking at him, "You need to hide."

Krycek shot up and nearly stood right on the bed as he went into alert mode.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"There's a suspicious person outside the door, he's been knocking for a while." Mulder informed.

"Okay – but where do I hide? The bed frame goes to the floor." Krycek got off the bed.

Mulder lifted up the mattress to reveal openings in the bed's wooden frame. "Get in and I'll put the mattress back on."

In that moment Krycek wasn't sure if he could trust Mulder, was it smart to get "locked" in a bed by someone he had tried to kill and vice versa? How did he even know the man at the door was after him? Why would Mulder even _want _to protect him?

"Look just trust me alright. It's beneficial to me on my mission that I don't get involved in your shit." Mulder said, essentially answering Krycek's unasked question.

Krycek hopped in and lowered himself till he was on the floor. Mulder put the mattress back on and everything went dark beneath the bed. Krycek stared at nothing as he focused on listening.

Mulder opened the door. "Yes?"

"Are you Fox Mulder?"

Krycek strained to hear, but did not recognize the voice.

"It's not 12, I don't have to pay for an extra day." Said Mulder.

"That's not what I was inquiring about. You work with the FBI." Said the man.

"Can I ask who you are?"

"We're both interested in the apprehension of the same man, I'm sure." The man continued, fishing out a blurry candid photo of Krycek.

"Alex Krycek." Mulder said.

"Yes, have you seen him around recently?"

"You have reason to believe he's around here?"

"We've been tracking him, or attempting to."

Mulder looked at the photo. "I haven't seen him in months, to be honest with you. I thought maybe he was dead."

The man looked past Mulder and into the hotel room. He brushed past Mulder. Krycek held his breath as he heard the man step into the room.

"Hey – what are you doing?"

The man drew a gun and pointed it at Mulder, who raised his hands.

"I'm just going to take a look around." He said.

"Whatever." Replied Mulder.

The man looked around the room and knelt down, but after seeing the bed frame went to the floor, stood up and walked to the bathroom. When he got closer he began to approach slowly; to him this was the only true hiding place. He walked into the bathroom, but after finding it empty, soon retreated. He put away his weapon and walked towards Mulder, but didn't say anything until he was out the door.

"Perhaps we will see each other again."

Mulder put his hand on the door knob. "Yeah – perhaps."

He watched from behind the curtain of the window as the man got into a car and drove off. He lifted the mattress up.

"A friend of yours?" he asked Krycek.

Krycek sat up and pulled himself out of the frame. "I assume so; the man who attacked me on the train didn't talk, so I don't know if it was him or another one of them."

"You're a popular guy."

"A little too popular." Said Krycek, stepping out of the frame and stretching.

"Well, as far as I know, he drove off. So either we stay here for the rest of our natural lives, or we leave now."

Krycek grabbed the rest of his clothes. "I'm fine with that."

The two got in the car and left the motel behind them, Krycek wondered where Mulder's mission was going to take him next, and if the man had turned around and staked them out.

Mulder drove past the Alabama welcome sign at approximately 4:00 pm. He pulled off the highway and drove until he was on more back roads. Krycek began to grow more curious about the mission, why was it leading Mulder to no man's land? About a silent, half hour later they pulled into what looked like another alien themed tourist trap, but with an added restaurant and motel.

"What the hell is this?" asked Krycek.

"It's 'The UFO Zone'." Said Mulder a little too nonchalantly.

"What are we doing here?"

"That's my business. So unless you'd rather be on your own running from who knows who, stop asking so many questions."

Krycek and Mulder walked inside. An energetic woman greeted them.

"Hello there! Welcome to The UFO Zone! What can we do for you?"

"Hey there, I'm Fox. I'd like to rent a room, and also if we could have a table for two at the restaurant, that would be great."

The woman smiled and pulled out a guest book. "No problem! I'll take you two to your room after dinner. Follow me to the dining room."

The woman, whose name was Christine, led them to a small booth and handed them menus. "Can I get you anything to drink to start?"

The boys perused the menu, which featured tea such as "Earl Grey Alien". Mulder let out a chuckle and Krycek looked up and stared at him for a moment, amazed at how much of a nerd Special Agent Fox Mulder really was. He gave an unseen side smile.

"I'll just take a soda." Said Mulder.

"Tea for me." Said Krycek.

"What kind of tea?"

"Uh. Earl Grey."

"We don't serve Earl Grey here, sweetie." Said Christine, winking at Mulder.

"earlgreyalien." He muttered.

"Earl Grey what?"

"Alien!" Krycek gave an embarrassed laugh.

"I see your boyfriend doesn't like to play around." Christine laughed and left to get their drinks.

"What did she just say." said Mulder, almost too serious.

"Um. I don't know I didn't hear her." Krycek tried not to turn red – she thought they were a couple?

The dinner went on fine, they didn't talk much, and Krycek savored each bite. This shabby little rest stop had given him the best meal he had eaten in ages.

"Jesus you can eat." Said Mulder, and Krycek realized that he hadn't been eating as gracefully as he thought.

"I've been on the run for months; you don't get to stop to really eat a good meal." Krycek replied defensively.

"Well, order more if you need it."

Krycek looked down at his empty plate. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah – but I'm keeping tabs on your expenditures, and you're gonna pay me back whether the money is acquired legally or not."

Krycek felt this was Mulder's attempt at a joke. But all in all it was hard to joke about the reality of their lives. Speaking of which, Mulder seemed pretty lackadaisical for someone on a "mission".

After Krycek ordered more food (and after Mulder couldn't resist the alien themed desserts) he decided it was time to pry once more, and asked him about the mission.

"It's personal. I can't tell you. I can't trust you with the details." Said Mulder coolly.

"Come on Mulder, I'm not going to tell anyone." Said Krycek in a hushed voice as their second helping of food arrived.

"Sorry, but I just can't say." Said Mulder, smiling at the alien cookies on top of his UFO cake.

Krycek dropped it and began to eat again, and his thoughts drifted to sleeping. He almost got excited to go to bed; it was strange knowing it was –sort of- safe to sleep with both eyes closed.

Christine arrived with the check.

"I'll pay since this one never does." Mulder joked. Christine laughed, and after dinner she led them outside to the strip of building that held their room.

"All our rooms are occupied except this one – but I think you'll find it's the one you two would have picked."

Krycek and Mulder looked at each other apprehensively. Krycek mouthed "What the hell does that mean?" but Mulder didn't understand. He did, however, understand the look associated with the movements of his mouth, which roughly translated to "What the hell kind of room is this gonna be."

Mulder hoped she meant it was the super deluxe alien-themed room.


	4. Chapter 4

_Gildan's Note: I had this done back when I uploaded chapter 3 yet it took me this long to upload it. I'm not going to lie, my huge bout of inspiration has pretty much subsided but...I'll see what happens ;y;;; _

**Chapter Four: Closer Calls**

Christine opened the door and flicked on the light. Which triggered the other lights.

Well, at least it WAS alien themed.

Krycek was the first to react. "Uh…."

The room was stuffed from floor to ceiling with alien related things, stuffed animals, posters, neon signs, but more things among the organized mess became clearer as their eyes adjusted to the pink hue of the room. There was a cleanly circle shaped bed among the "clutter", and Krycek wondered if it was supposed to represent a sterile operating table, the kind you'd lie on if you were abducted. There were also hearts everywhere. It was Cupid's Bedroom if Cupid had an extreme alien fetish.

Mulder laughed awkwardly. Krycek couldn't say anything else.

"Is it okay?" asked Christine, who undoubtedly must have thought they were in shock due to pure amazement.

"Christine…we're not…" Mulder began.

"A couple?" Krycek seemed to ask, exasperated.

"Oh my GOD – you're not?!"

"NO! What made you think that? Asked Mulder.

"You two just read 'couple' to me! I don't know of many friends who just come to stay at an alien themed road stop. And you were bickering and joking – and the way he looked at you." She pointed to Krycek, who had stepped into the room.

He whirled around. "WHAT?! I don't look at him like anything!"

"I am so sorry. This is all we have – I mean you can always go to another hotel...I'm sorry about this."

Mulder stepped into the room. "It's a pretty cool room."

"Mulder." Krycek said, unenthused.

"Aw Christine, don't worry about it. We'll make it work." Mulder said, giving a wink. He couldn't bear to see how sorry and embarrassed Christine was. "I want to help keep this place going, after all."

A stunned "what" could be heard from Krycek, but was ignored as Christine profusely thanked Mulder. She gave them their room key and went back to the dining hall.

"What the hell." Said Krycek, doing a 360 in the room. "Considering all her other rooms are booked - I think she's doing just fine."

"Oh come on, look at this! It's amazing!"

"Well in that case the bed is mine, but it's probably not as sterile as it looks." Krycek flopped down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "There are alien love scenes painted on this ceiling, Mulder."

Mulder flopped down onto the bed next to Krycek, who wasn't expecting the sudden close company. Mulder burst out laughing. Krycek side-eyed him, but Mulder kept laughing. His laugh became more and more genuine, and he closed his eyes and put his hand to his face. It sounded like he was crying from laughter. Krycek was about to nudge himself away from being so close, but stayed. He smiled, he had never seen Mulder like this, and he couldn't help but think it was the most adorable thing. Mulder's sobbing laughter began to die out, and Krycek gave a half smile.

"You're such a loser." He said, but immediately regretted it. Not that it would hurt Mulder, but, maybe this was his opportunity to say something that wasn't sarcastic, filled with venom, or mean-spirited banter. Was that the relationship they had? They exchanged banter?

"You don't think that's funny?"

"I think it's weird. It makes me uncomfortable." Said Krycek.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Because it's bizarre. Because some artist stood up on a ladder and painted those pictures. Like what if they were turned on by this. What if they were like "Ohh yeah – yeah – alien sex" – plus I don't exactly like to lie in bed and greet my eyes to extraplanetary porn."

Mulder burst out laughing again. "That's funny. Or maybe they were really disturbed but needed the cash."

Krycek blushed, he didn't realize what he just said. It was a weird feeling, like showing his personality to Mulder. Just being himself.

"Yeah well, I'm gonna go take a bath." Krycek got up off the bed and went into the bathroom, he immediately backed out with two alien shaped bars in his hand. "Holy shit."

"What are those?" asked Mulder.

"They're bath bombs, for when you take baths, they kind of fizz up and stuff, like bubble bath in a way, except with colors and more scented. This place is too hardcore for me."

"Can you handle it?"

"I'll try."

They exchanged smiles and Krycek went back into the bathroom. He put the bath bombs in the tub and turned on the water. He went back to the door and locked it, then turned to look at himself in the mirror. He sighed, what was happening? Were they friends now? Did this stupid place actually break down that barrier of "Hey remember all those times we basically tried to kill each other? Except I totally tried to kill you more but I can't say for sure that I wanted to. I was kind of forced by the Syndicate. Y'see it's kind of like a chess game, where I'm a pawn…"

Because there's an apology. Krycek took off his shirt and looked at his arm in the mirror. "Hey don't forget I lost a limb because of this shit…" He took off the prosthetic and placed it on the counter next to some UFO shaped bars of decorative soap. This had to be some weird ass surreal dream. No way was this real life. He stripped the rest of the way and stepped into the tub, which was now a mixture of galaxy like colors from the bath bars. He had to admit the aroma was nice and relaxing, something he needed. He lowered himself down into the water, using his right arm as an anchor.

The water was getting higher now, but he let it run a little while longer. He closed his eyes and inhaled, trying to center himself and his feelings. He was all over the place. This morning he had been hiding under a mattress from whoever-the-hell knows. Now he was in a spa-like tub in a weird motel; and in a sexy suite no less. He thought about Mulder's silly laugh. God dammit, he was so cute.

There was a knock on the door. Krycek opened his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Hey so uh – you didn't take any other clothes in there. So I have some of my own, just stuff I wear to bed. You can borrow some of them."

Krycek got on his knees and reached to unlock the door, his lower half still in the tub (The only way he'd open the door). He opened the door slightly.

"Here." Said Mulder, holding out the pile of clothes.

"Just uh – push em through." Said Krycek.

Mulder dropped the clothes through the opening, and made eye contact with Krycek, where his eyes then fell on what was left of Krycek's left arm. Krycek noticed and turned scarlet, practically yelled "BYE", and closed and locked the door in what must have been a record speed of closing and locking doors.

He sunk back into the tub, embarrassed and angry at himself that he opened the door in the first place. He stayed in there until the heat of the water cooled down. He let the water drain and got out to dry himself. He looked on the ground at Mulder's clothes.

When he came out of the bathroom he found Mulder checking out the small TV on the nightstand.

"Well, since you've been acquainted with the state of my body, I'm not sleeping in this anymore." Krycek threw the prosthetic arm on the dresser.

Mulder looked over at him. "You never had to."

Krycek couldn't conceal the look of shock on his face. "Well, it's not hard to understand why I didn't want to…"

"You're right."

"W-Why are you being so nice to me?" said Krycek, anger in his voice.

"It's not an easy thing." Said Mulder. "I need as little stress as possible while on my mission. So not wanting to strangle you 24/7 is a better option."

Krycek didn't say anything.

"Is it hard?" Mulder suddenly asked.

"_What?_"

"Living with one arm?"

"Oh…it was at first. Like, really difficult." Krycek looked down at his feet for a second. "I mean, no one was around to help me so – I had to learn how to adjust on my own. Yeah it was hard. But now I'm used it. It's almost like I don't even realize it anymore." He looked at Mulder's left arm. "Until I do. Then I'm reminded of all the things I can't do anymore."

"Like what?" asked Mulder, not trying to be rude but not exactly avoiding it.

"I don't know like holding someone in your arms."

"You never seemed like the type to-" Mulder stopped himself.

"To what?"

"Just…sorry…but to have anyone…to…just I didn't think you were the type who had someone…"

"Well – I did – at one point."

"You could still hold someone, I'm sure." Said Mulder, trying to fix the situation.

"Yeah – probably. But I guess I won't have to worry about that ever, now will I?" said Krycek bitterly, walking over to the bed.

"Shit, man. I didn't mean to insult you like that. I just…never really thought about your personal life before."

"Well believe it or not, it exists. I exist, yknow, as a person." Krycek pulled the sheets down and climbed into the bed. "Even if they try to take that away from me."

Mulder turned off the light, but there was still a faint glow. He grabbed a blanket from a chair in the corner and walked over to the bed. "You take that side and the sheets, I'll use this."

Krycek didn't say anything, just complied. Mulder laid on his back and looked up at the ceiling, now just too dark to make out the silly shapes.

"I'm sorry." Said Mulder. "I should have thought about what I was saying. Truth be told, I guess it didn't see you as…as really a person either. Just someone who was always my enemy."

"Well I'll probably be run down soon so you won't have to worry about that anymore."

"Does it scare you?"

"What? No. It's to be expected…" Krycek paused. So did Mulder. There was silence in the room for a moment.

"Yes it scares me." Krycek whispered.

"How did you get wrapped up in all this?"

"I was young and stupid – thought I could handle it. Was also ignorant to what was really going on. I'm only just putting the pieces together."

"You can always come with us."

Krycek laughed. "It's too late for that."

"Maybe you're right."

"I don't get you, Fox. You're in rare form. Saying I can redeem myself, being considerably nice to me, what's going on? It's almost like you were abducted and they've replaced your personality." Krycek asked.

"Let's just say my mission has made me a little more relaxed."

"And you still won't tell me what it is."

"Nope."

"Alright Mulder – I just spilled my guts to you, not it's your turn."

"What do you want to know?" asked Mulder.

"Hm. You and Scully. You together?"

"Oh geez – uh no. We're not together. Not like that anyway." Said Mulder.

"Oh."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah. Do you really think you'll find Samantha?" Krycek asked, but even though they were playing a question game, it was still out of the blue. He had read about Samantha, but was now unsure if they had ever talked about her before.

"….I want to believe it. I have to believe it." Said Mulder.

"Is that why we're out here?"

Mulder shook his head. "No no. That's not it. The Smoking Man knows, or he pretends to, that's where I find her. Not out here."

There was silence again.

"Sorry – now we're both depressed. Or. Even more than we were before." Said Krycek.

"It's alright."

"It's been a weird few days, hasn't it?" Krycek asked.

"Yes it has."

More silence. They didn't say goodnight to each other, and it was weird being so close (the bed wasn't all that big), but in a way, they didn't have to. The conversation was so personal; "goodnight" just seemed implied. Maybe a "sweet dreams" was silently uttered too.

Krycek turned over on his left side to face the wall, he heard Mulder turn to face the other wall. He closed his eyes, suddenly overcome with tiredness. He drifted off into sleep easily. He hadn't had time to mull over the conversation that had just passed. His last thought was the answer to the question about Dana Scully. The corner of his mouth twitched, but he repressed a smile. There were more things to be concerned about, weren't there?


End file.
